TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A wildfire swept through one of Taiwan's most visited national parks on Monday (April 14), scorching roughly 50 hectares (124 acres) of mountainous terrain before emergency crews contained the blaze after a five-hour battle. The fire at Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a popular recreational area on Taipei's northern edge, prompted a large-scale response from firefighters who managed to extinguish the flames by late afternoon without any reported injuries.
Investigators have preliminarily identified an air quality monitoring device from the National Center for High-Performance Computing (國家高速網路與計算中心) as the likely ignition source of the blaze, which began along the popular hiking trails of Mt. Qixing (七星山), the highest peak in the Taipei metropolitan area. The city's fire department mobilized substantial resources, including a forward command post, six command vehicles, two dozen fire trucks, an ambulance, and 91 firefighters. Officials deployed advanced technology in their response, using surveillance drones to map the fire's spread and guide suppression efforts.
The multi-agency response drew additional resources from neighboring New Taipei City, which dispatched two vehicles and four personnel to assist. Aerial support proved crucial as the National Air Service Corps (NASC, 空中勤務總隊), Taiwan's equivalent of a national guard air service, deployed a Black Hawk helicopter from its Taichung base in central Taiwan. The specialized aircraft, designated NA-709, conducted three water-dropping missions beginning at 3:51 p.m. The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FNCA, 林業及自然保育署) also contributed a specialized seven-member mobile firefighting team trained in wilderness fire suppression. ★